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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Amanda Davis Award for Young Women Writers

With a May 1 deadline, you’d better hurry on this one! I met Amanda Davis when we were both at Bread Loaf, and though we weren’t close friends, her sad and untimely death affected me. So I was pleased to discover this award from McSweeney’s in her honor. From the McSweeney’s website:

The Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award is a $2,500 grant given in memory of Amanda Davis. Amanda Davis was a very gifted writer and close friend of ours who passed away in March of 2003, at the age of 32. She was an irreplaceable person, one who created and nurtured communities wherever she went. She loved to write, loved being a writer, loved to read, loved the existence of books, and wanted happiness—personal, professional, spiritual, shoe-related—for everyone. She really did.

This memorial award is intended to aid a woman writer of 32 years or younger who both embodies Amanda's personal strengths—warmth, generosity, a passion for community—and who needs some time to finish a book in progress. The book in progress needn't be thematically or stylistically close to Amanda's work, but we would be lying if we said we weren't looking to support another writer of Amanda's outrageous lyricism and heart.

Requirements and GuidelinesApplicants should send a work in progress, between 5,000 and 40,000 words, and a statement of their financial situation. You may list any and all ridiculous jobs performed to facilitate your writing, and you may include two other short pieces, published or otherwise, if you feel they would help in the understanding of your work generally. The reading group will consist of McSweeney's editors and a handful of writers and readers close to Amanda. The award will be given in one lump-sum grant, with no strings attached. The deadline is May 1, 2008. Winners will be notified by September 1, 2008.